A SENSATIONAL new book from bodyguard, Robin Barratt, has lifted the lid on Wilmslow's seedy links with the crime underworld and blown the myth about the champagne lifestyle in Alderley Edge.

Robin's autobiography, "Doing the Doors" unveils secrets about bar staff running a lucrative sideline selling bubbly under the table and paints a potent picture of gangland Wilmslow with some of Manchester's most notorious gang lords living out their playboy fantasies at the former nightspot, Equivino.

During his year as manager of the club, based at Wilmslow's Moat House Hotel, Robin, 41, said it was virtually overrun with mobsters who he believes were attracted by its glamorous image as a celebrity hangout.

In the late 1990s, Equivino became a mecca for the 'in crowd', especially on its most famous night Peruvia, when the club was filled with celebrity guests, even the Spice Girls.

But, according to Robin, the nightclub's fame as "the" exclusive Manchester club of its day was also a beacon for "undesirables" who quickly put their feet under the table in the VIP room.

Regular visits from the Manchester gang heads and their "soldiers", who allegedly organised major drug deals from the club, soon attracted the attention of the serious crime squad. Police eventually threatened to close Equivino down unless Robin agreed to meet their demands, which included installing CCTV cameras in the VIP room.

"The first weekend, the gangs were unaware of the new system and it made for some extremely interesting viewing," said Robin. "The first night's video showed cocaine being snorted off the glass tables in the VIP lounge, someone having sex in the corner and someone showing someone else a knife they had concealed in their jacket."

Gang leaders quickly cottoned on to the cameras and blocked the lenses with black tape. But not before Robin spotted one of his management team running a sideline in Champagne.

He believes that his discovery offers an alternative explanation to the urban myth that Alderley Edge was the nation's champagne buying capital.

"Every Saturday afternoon the same person would turn up at the same off-licence with a shopping list and buy at least 20 bottles of different brands, often a lot more."

"I later found out that the gang heads had their preferred brands and were placing specific orders from a member of staff."

"I laughed to myself when I read in a local newspaper that the off-licence in question sold more Champagne in that village than at any other one of their outlets nationwide. I knew why."

Robin, who lived on Styal Road during his five year stay in Manchester, eventually left his job as manager of the club after police warned him that a "contract" had been put on his head, apparently because he had hired a Liverpudlian as chief doorman. Equivino was then closed down.

Following his short stint as a club manager, Robin went back to his lifelong job working as a bouncer, eventually manning the doors at The Rectory in Wilmslow. He left that job in 2002 after suffering a nervous breakdown, which he blames on the violent scenes he constantly endured.

Robin is now a successful author, an expert in personal security and runs the UK's biggest agency for bodyguards.